Where:

Frosty Drew Observatory

When:

Friday May 31, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.

Cost:

Free! Donations Appreciated.

So far, sky conditions are looking fairly good for viewing tonight, so the 16-inch telescope will probably be open for viewing. As the Moon is at its 1st quarter, it won't be visible during our regular open hours, but Saturn is in good position, and will be beautiful to see. Also, although the International Space Station won't be in our sky, there will be a fairly good pass of the Tiangong satellite at 9:54; in addition, there are five Iridium satellites that should be flaring during the night. Remember: Sunset is rather late, so the telescope won't be open until 9:00 P.M.

If the Sun is visible, we will be safely observing it on the lawn across the street, in front of the Drew Sky Theatre, beginning about 6:00 P.M. this afternoon. Viewing the Sun is not an activity to be taken lightly, and we will show you how to do so with no problems for your eyes. At this time, there seem to be some good spots on its surface, the darker sunspots, and we may be fortunate to see flare activity.

As the Moon is reaching 3rd quarter phase, it is now on its way toward the direction of the Sun, for next week's New Moon. Because of this, if you happen to observe the Moon during the early morning hours this coming week, keep watching for Earthshine, when the waning crescent Moon becomes small enough to see the apparently ghostly scene of the dark side of the Moon. Let us know if you do see it as this week continues.

Also, don't forget the June 14th planetarium show on the URI campus. The program is "A Starry Tale," a beautiful Japanese adaptation of sky mythology. Admission to this show, which will be at both 6:00 and 7:00 P.M., is only $5.00, to benefit both the URI and Frosty Drew Memorial funds. Visit Frosty Drew Events for more information.

Frosty Drew Observatory is privileged to be located at the darkest skies in Rhode Island. Please help us to keep the skies as dark as possible.

-Francine Jackson

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Tonight's forecast is calling for clear skies and a slight breeze early with patchy fog rolling in over night. The 42% waning crescent Moon will rise at 1:19 a.m. keeping skies dark for the first few hours of our stargazing session. We will open the observatory tonight after 8:30 with views of Saturn, binary stars, star clusters, fantastic nebulae, and possibly an asteroid! Tonight's temps will be in the 60's which means mosquitoes will be taking reservations. If the fog can stay away tonight, we can possibly have a great night.

This afternoon at 4:59 p.m. Asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail past Earth at a distance 3.6 million miles or 15 LD (Lunar Distance). This asteroid is about 1.7 miles in diameter and an asteroid that big that is this close makes a fantastic radio target. The huge Goldstone and Arecibo radio observatories have been collecting beautiful radar images of the asteroid and have identified a moon in orbit around the asteroid. 1998 QE2 should be visible to the primary telescope at Frosty Drew and we will make an attempt at viewing the asteroid tonight.

This afternoon, starting at 6:00, we will have a publicly available equipment test of our solar projection program that will run every Friday at 6:00 p.m. (weather permitting) until Autumn. This program will offer the public safe solar observation with views of sunspots and solar flares called “prominence”. Views of the solar disc from Frosty Drew telescopes will be projected inside the Sky Theatre and on screens setup on the Frosty Drew grounds. Stop in this afternoon for some beautiful views of the Daytime Star, then stick around for a mesmerizing view of the cosmos over Frosty Drew Observatory!

Note: Mosquitoes will be out at Frosty Drew tonight and will begin their feast at sundown. Be sure to dress appropriately! Full length pants, closed toe

-Scott MacNeill